Snow-melting apparatus.



M. JONASSON.

SNOW MELTING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY a, 1909.

Patented Jan. 4, 1910.

WITNESSES FFICE.

MEYER JONASSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SNOW-MELTING APPARATUS.

1'0 all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, MEYER Jowasson, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of New York, borough of Man- 2 hattan, in thecounty and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedSnow-illelting Apparatus, of which the following 1s a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in means for melting anddisposing of claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part ofthis specification, in which the single figure shows a vertical sectionthrough a portion of a building and the adjacent street, andillustrating an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention.

In carrying out my improved system, I employ a tank or chamber 10, intowhich the snow and ice may be deposited, and so constructed as tofacilitate the melting of said snow and ice and the delivery of thewater to the interior of the building and to a higher elevation than thelevel of the tank. This tank is preferably placed in a vault, chamber orcompartment 11, beneath the sidewalk 12 in front of the building, andthe front wall 13 is provided with a doorway and door 14, whereby accessmay be gained to this vault. The sidewalk is provided with a manhole 15,directly above the top of the tank, and the latter is provided with aheavy weighted cover 16, with an opening therethrough concentric withsaid manhole. The cover is so constructed as to fit within the tank andmove vertically to follow the snow and ice downwardly in the tank, assaid snow and ice melts. The cover is provided with a peripheral gasket17, of

any suitable character to insure a tight closure along the edges of thecover and the side walls of the tank, and suitable means are providedfor raising the cover to the upper end of the tank. The particular meansillustrated includes a drum or windlass 18, adapted to be rotated by asuitable crank 19,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 6, 1999.

Patented Jan. 4, 1910.

Serial No. 494,349.

and having two cables and 21 extending over suitable pulleys 22, 23 and24 to thecover. The central aperture in the cover is adapted to beclosed air tight and is only opened during the admission of snow and icethrough the manhole 15. Encircling this opening I may provide a sleeve25 having a screw cap at the upper end and a suitable gasket 26 forinsuring the air-tight sealing of the opening through the cover.

The tank is provided with an outlet conduit 27 at the lower end, whichmay have two separate branches 28 and 29 leading therefrom. One of thesebranches, 28, may lead to a sewer 30, and the other branch, 29, mayextend into the basement of the building and connect to ariser 31extending up in the building to the point at which it is desired todeliver the water. At the intersection of the two branches 28 and 29,there .may be provided a three-way cock 32 for controlling the flow ofwater through the two branches.

Any suitable means may be employed for heating the tank. For instance,the door 1 1 may be left open and the vault or chamber 11 be heated bythe heat of the basement of the building. If desired, a furnace 33 inthe basement of the building may have a branch conduit 34: extendingthrough the wall into the vault 11, to permit of the delivery of steamdirectly to the vault, to warm the tank 10. This branch is, of course,provided with a suitable valve 35.

Whenever there is an accumulation of snow upon the sidewalk or in thestreet, which it is desired to dispose of, the cover 16 is raised by thewindlass to approximately the position illustrated in the drawings, themanhole cover 15 is removed, as is also the cap 26. The snow on thesidewalk is dumped through the manhole and through the cover 16 to theinterior of the tank,

'which is preferably of such a size as to receiVe all of the snowaccumulated on the sidewalk during an average snow storm. The cap 26 isthen replaced and secured airtight, and the manhole cover 15 isreplaced. Upon relasing the windlass the cover 16 may descend intocontact with the snow and pack the latter down tightly in the tank. Ifthe valve 32 be opened, the snow as fast as it melts, will flow throughthe conduit 27 and through the branch 28' to the sewer or the branch 29to any storage reservoir in the house. The riser 31 may connect directlyto a faucet, and the tank 10 be utilized as a storage tank for thewater. The heavy weighted cover 16 will hold the water under pressure sothat as soon as the riser 31 is opened at its upper end, the water willflow upwardly to the desired level. It is, of course, evident that theelevation of the outlet in the riser 31 will be determined by the sizeof the weight and the height to which the weight can raise the water.Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A snow-melting apparatus, comprising a vault beneath the sidewalk ofa street, a snow-melting tank Within said vault and having communicationwith a manhole in the sidewalk, a heat-conducting pipe entering thevault from a heating apparatus in a house on the street, said tankhaving a vertically-movable weighted cover for compressing the snow andwater within the tank, and a conduit leading from said tank to the upperfloors of said house.

2. A snow-melting apparatus, comprising a tank having a cover verticallymovable therein and provided with a socket fitting the inner surface ofthe walls of the tank, a conduit leading from the lower portion of thetank, means for hoisting said cover to the position adjacent the top ofthe tank, said cover having an aperture therethrough, and means forclosing said aperture air tight, and means for heating said tank.

3. A snow-melting apparatus, comprising a vault beneath the sidewalk ofa street, a receiver for snow and ice within said vault and havingimperforate walls and in communication with a manhole in the sidewalk,means for closing said communication, a heatconducting pipe entering thevault from a heating apparatus in the house, a conduit establishingcommunication between said receiver and a sewer, and a conduit eX-tending from said receiver to the interior of the house.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

MEYER JONASSON.

lVitnesses I. GAMsBURo, Rose NURIoK.

